Comments on: Take a straw poll, Wesgro… you might be surprised

By: Mel Miller

Mel Miller — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:49:07 +0000

Yes…I believe the locals do it better.

Here is a perfect example of how it should be done:
I was in Montagu on Heritage day and was taking an evening stroll around this beautiful village before dinner at the Mimosa Lodge.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the doors of the Bath Street Tourism / Info office still open at 6.15pm!
I was welcomed by a smiling staffer who invited me in, offered me their brochure and suggested I take one of their informative walking tour maps of their village.

What was surprising was that it was after 6.00pm on a public holiday! (I was told this is usual).

What was even more surprising was when I entered the office area – there were at least 10 locals gathered around in a meeting to strategise and discuss how to make this weekend’s upcoming Makiti Festival a bigger success than it was last year!

Clearly they are all believers in the importance of local tourism and are prepared to do whatever it takes in order to make Montagu a destination of choice. (A great example of “ponder less, do more”).
Well done Montagu Tourism!

Now I wonder if the Wesgro offices were open at all on Wednesday?

I urge readers to take a trip out to Montagu this weekend – it will be well worth it

By: Lorraine Barry Martin

Lorraine Barry Martin — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 16:25:00 +0000

I seems to me that things started going haywire when tourism was taken in house at Municipalities……now all our tourism offices in Hessequa have been closed……..saying it is the business sectors responsibility to advertise their own businesses. Seasonality is a killer. Staff complications are a nightmare where we live, and our village could be taken better care of. After 15 yrs I am still struggling to get our branding used and promoted. Some people just do not share the vision and then don’t promote it.

I live in one of the most beautiful villages in the Western Cape, no crime, good fishing and so many whales (82 calves born last year) Sadly not enough people involved in building tourism here. It is left up to a few of us…..

By: Chris Moerdyk

Chris Moerdyk — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:58:54 +0000

Sometimes I despair at the marketing strategy being used to promote our beautiful part of the world. For a start I worry when I see anything about “five year” strategies or plans In my experience in the corporate sector I found that five years plans and strategies were a waste of time because if one looks back after about four years one will inevitably find that the five year strategy at the time was less than 5% accurate in the current climate . The changing business environment is such that it is impossible to plan beyond a few months. I know of any number of big businesses banks that have stopped producing five year plans as a result of my findings.
The goal is to increase tourism and investment, the strategy needs to be dynamic enough to be able to adapt quickly in terms of always having the most efficient plans to achieve the maximum return on investment. And yes, marketing tourism is not about big advertising campaigns anymore, but rather using far better and cheaper marketing tools.

By: Mel Miller

Mel Miller — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 10:09:09 +0000

Well said Carl.
Our local economy deserves better. So many businesses and jobs are on the line in this important driver of the local economy. This is the same old story we have come to expect from so called “authorities” who are tasked with driving and supporting this crucial industry – too much talk about strategies and “what is going to happen”, instead of “‘these are the results we are achieving and these are the gains we have made in this past month”.
A business sage once told me: “the greatest strategy for future success is to be successful in the immediate present”. Wise words indeed. Jack Welsh turn-around king and ex-CEO of GE said it more bluntly: “When it comes to strategy. ponder less and do more”. Doing more is what we need. Results talk, bullshit walks I’m afraid. If Wesgro cannot perform I suggest they take a hike.